VATICAN CITY, Sept 28: Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday called on Germany to respect the rights of asylum seekers, in particular Christians, who had fled their countries fearing persecution.

“The Holy See calls on the competent authorities not to deport foreign Christians persecuted for their faith in their home states,” Germany’s new ambassador to the Vatican, Hans Henning Horstmann, said.

According to a resume of the meeting between Benedict XVI- who is himself German- and Horstmann published by the Vatican, the pope “recalled that Germany has become a new homeland for many people threatened in their countries of origin for religious and political reasons” and “suggested that the right to asylum should be guaranteed by law” in Germany.

Analysts say Benedict XVI was referring to a number of recent reports by German civil rights groups criticising Berlin’s record on asylum seekers.

One document published by the ProAsyl group says Germany expelled 40,000 asylum seekers, most of them from Kosovo, Afghanistan and

Iraq, during the past three years.—AFP